Moments
by chercrew8
Summary: Copied and pasted from an RP with very little editting, basically multiple one-shots broken into parts. Feel free to comment if you find mistakes. Set after Endgame in an AU in which Natasha was resurrected... with a change in her body that she didn’t discover until it was too late. Rated M for smut, with warnings at the beginnings of chapters containing it.
1. Chapter1

**Author's Note: This is actually copied and pasted from a Discord roleplay in which I had the pleasure of being Natasha Romanoff. As many typos as could be found were corrected, but no doubt there are plenty that we missed. My partner and I wrote this story over a long period of time, and our skills have improved greatly as we went on, so have fun watching us grow. This RP is still a work in progress, so no, I don't know where it will lead.**

Natasha Romanoff stumbled into an abandoned warehouse, one hand clutching a gunshot wound in her side, doing her best to apply pressure to the injury. Bleeding out would be rather unpleasant, or so she had heard. A red stain already marked her gray blouse, slowly spreading as blood soaked through it more and more. Trying to look a little less like she might keel over at any second, instinctively hiding weakness as much as she could, she straightened up slightly as she approached a van parked in the warehouse. She rapped her fist against one of the windows of the vehicle, not speaking in case there was anyone nearby besides herself and the man she wanted to see.

-

Frank sat in his van staring at a large sprawling cork board full of pictures of criminals and other evidence tying them together, yarn connecting the photos and evidence in a tangled confusing mess that only the marine really understood.

The rapping on his window startled him from his intense focus, immediately grabbing his sidearm, only pausing for a moment to make sure it was cocked, loaded, and off safety. Frank swung the door open only to see the bleeding red head in front of him.

"Romanoff? What the hell.."

-

"Hey, Frank." Natasha greeted him quietly, flashing a small smile, and lifted her red-stained hand from the wound in her side to give him a little wave. The movement splattered a few drops of blood across the floor of the warehouse, and she quickly went back to applying a semblance of pressure to the injury, grimacing.

"Put the gun down, would you? I've already been shot once today. How have you been? Haven't seen you in a while. Oh, also, have you got a first aid kit, by any chance?" She kept her tone conversational, despite the fact that she looked much more pale than usual, and was steadily losing more and more color in her face.

-

He just silently shook his head as she stood there before helping her into the van, stopping for a moment to look around before closing the door and turning to Natasha. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked gruffly as he searched for the medkit inside his mess of a living space.

Pulling it out, he dug through and found the antibiotics, stitching tools, and gauze. "Lift the shirt, Nat. And bite onto something, cause this is gonna hurt." He warned her before he poured alcohol on the wound to disinfect it.

-

She arched an eyebrow when he just stood there, then wrapped an arm around him as he helped her inside, accepting assistance for once in her life. The petite ginger draped herself across a convenient seat with a soft sigh, looking over and watching him as he pulled out the medical kit.

"Sorry about the blood." She murmured as she stripped her top off entirely, without hesitation, apparently unconcerned by modesty. Now clad in a lacy black bra and bloodstained jeans, she stretched back, giving him better access to her injury.

"Please, this is like a paper cut, I'll be..." Her words were cut off by a sharp intake of breath as the alcohol hit the wound, her jaw clenching for a moment before she forced herself to relax by sheer willpower alone. Maybe that was a bit worse than a paper cut.

-

"Next part's gonna be rough. Here, this'll help," he said as he handed her the whiskey bottle on his nightstand. Pulling a blowtorch and a knife from his medical supplies, Frank fired up the torch and heated the blade until it was glowing white hot.

"You're probably gonna wanna bite on your shirt or something," he gave her another warning before carefully digging the bullet out of her wound, the smell of burning flesh filling the small van. Another splash of alcohol on the wound after the bullet tinked to the floor. The marine then quickly got to work on the stitching, making sure to wipe away the blood as it welled up.

Placing a large bandage over the wound before wrapping her entire waist with gauze, the dark haired man sat back and pulled a cigarette from his pack, using the blowtorch to light it.

-

"Oh boy. Can't wait." Natasha picked up the bottle and took a few long gulps, sighing internally because well of course he had a blowtorch. Of course he did. Honestly, she wasn't even surprised. This was Frank Castle, after all.

She still didn't listen to his advice about biting down on something, because she was a stubborn bad bitch like that. Instead, she just went very still, her hands clenched into fists and her fingernails digging into her palms. She didn't make any noise of pain, despite the fact that she was in agony, instead staying perfectly silent, not even breathing for a few moments. As he finally pulled away, she relaxed at last, looking up at him, then draining all the rest of the bottle of whiskey.

"Thanks. You're killing your lungs with that, you know." It wasn't the first time she had made that comment or one like it about his smoking, and it wouldn't be the last.

-

"Pretty sure this is better for me than a bullet in the side. You owe me more whiskey by the way," he said simply as he just casually went back to looking at his cork board, planning his next attack on the Castiglione crime family.

"So what brought you to my neck of the woods, and how the hell did you find me?" He said gruffly without looking away from his plans. It wasn't that he was ignoring her, he was on a timetable here. Why else would he be parked in some abandoned warehouse?

He double checked that the detonator connected to the mines he'd placed were ready and that his two sub machine guns were fully loaded.

-

"Fair enough. How about... I get you some good vodka instead? You know, something enjoyable." She joked as she looked over at the board, brow furrowing as she took it all in.

There was a brief pause as she considered whether or not to lie to him, then she shrugged slightly. "I've got a tracker in the van. I was in the neighborhood on a SHIELD mission, got shot, and you were nearby. Nice warehouse, by the way."

Taking in his assortment of weaponry, Natasha subtly checked the gun tucked into the back of her jeans. "Expecting a fight anytime soon? Well, you're always expecting a fight, but any more so than usual?"

-

"Not my warehouse... Big deal going down here... what? You think I park my van in abandoned warehouses for fun?" He said half smiling as he watched through the window waiting for the scum to file into the warehouse.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel," he muttered under his breath as a few limousines pulled up, men in suits getting out, weapons drawn, everyone on edge.

"So why'd you call this meeting, Castiglione?" One of the thugs called to another on the other side of the warehouse.

"Yo, I didn't gather you idiots anywhere, it was you who got us all here..." The other man replied, confused, tensions rising incredibly high.

Frank just watched and waited. The second they were all under the mark, _BOOM!_ Several explosions caused body parts to fly. Men ran screaming and panicking.

"Showtime" Frank said, throwing the doors open to the van. Gunning down men left and right, making sure no one was moving.

-

"I wouldn't put anything past you, Frank, including living in a warehouse." The moment the first of the men stepped into the warehouse, Natasha was on her feet, gun in hand. Her eyes narrowed as she cast him a very unimpressed glance.

"Speaking of fish, sometimes I think you've got the IQ of a can of tuna." A sigh slipped past her lips, then she laughed quietly, shaking her head at him with a small smile as she listened to the conversation going on outside. She followed him out of the van, still shirtless and not caring, and shot a few of those that weren't dead yet before he could get to him.

"So, you managed to get all of these idiots together and convinced both groups that the other invited them? Good job." She should have expected as much, honestly, when she'd come there, but she'd been busy trying not to bleed out.

-

He started gathering the gangster's weapons into his duffle bag. He funded his little operation from the things he stole from this scum. Plus... it's not like they needed it anymore. He was a bit surprised that Nat joined him though, but she did love the violence deep down... at least that was Frank's opinion.

"These assholes are just dumb. All you gotta do is get one of them scared enough to make a couple of calls and you have yourself a nice little sitdown. A few nicely placed C-4 packages in strategic spots and they all go up in smoke." He said as though killing these people were the easiest thing in the world.

-

Natasha laughed quietly as she slipped her gun back into the waistband of her jeans, knowing she had taken him by surprise. Even if it had only been a little bit, it amused her. He should know better by now, she thought, than to believe she would ever just sit still and stay out of the action when the action was happening right in front of her.

"Oh, I know. People like this haven't got two braincells to rub together, let alone the intelligence to realize that they're being duped." She crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow as she watched him collecting the various weaponry off of the corpses. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

-

Frank loaded the weapons and loose cash into his van, before looking at nat and answering her question with only a nonchalant sweeping hand gesture towards the bloody mangled bodies around them.

"Shopping for milk, what do you think?" He said in a dry sarcastic tone as he got into the driver's seat of the vehicle. He sat there and waited a moment before motioning for Natasha to get in.

"Cops'll be here in roughly three and a half minutes. You probably don't wanna be hanging around when they get here." He said bluntly as he started the van and put it into drive, keeping his foot on the break as he waited for the redhead to get in.

-

"Oh really? Whole milk? 2% milk? Skim milk? Almond milk? Soy milk?" Her tone was every bit as sarcastic as his, if not even more so, but there was a smile on her face as she spoke.

"I meant besides killing people, jackass. There's got to be something, _anything _you do outside of that, right?" Like she, for instance, drank copious amounts of vodka and had far more sex than would be advisable if her serum didn't keep her disease-free.

Natasha sighed, rolling her eyes as she slipped inside the van and into the passenger seat, the faintest hint of a limp in her stride now that there was no one but the two of them there to see it. "Yeah, sounds like a good plan. Let's get the fuck out of here, yeah?"

-

Frank hit the gas, speeding away from the warehouse, taking every alleyway and side street he could to avoid the police. It almost seemed as if he had already planned out this route, which he had. He planned everything carefully, always. Castle even gave himself some wiggle room for days like these when _something _interrupted his work.

"I drink. A lot. Maybe sleep eventually when I have to." He stated. It was true, he very rarely slept. The marine didn't elaborate on why he had so little sleep, the reason being the dreams... those damn nightmares... sometimes it was the war... sometimes it was Maria and the kids... but the one thing they had in common was death.

He kept driving in silence, it wasn't that he didn't enjoy Nat's company. Hell, she was probably one of the only people that he actually enjoyed being around. He just wasn't the social type, people were a distraction... or that's what he said to himself... deep down, Frank was just afraid of letting people get close to him…

-

Natasha certainly had an appreciation for his efficiency, that was for sure. She couldn't have done it better herself, she had to admit. Honestly, the man had skill, and she definitely didn't find that to be an attractive trait, no, not at all, why would you ever think such a thing? Her? Attracted to Frank Castle? Not a chance...

"Hey, that makes two of us. Alcohol and sleep deprivation. What a pair we make. Although _one _of us actually needs sleep significantly more than the other." Her serum let her function off of far less sleep than the average person required, which was convenient, because she herself was also plagued by nightmares. Her dreams were mainly filled with the Red Room and what had happened to her there, the atrocities she'd committed over the years, and visions of everyone she cared about dying. Those were always fun.

"So, anything new at all since the last time we ran into each other? Anything at all?" She herself was quite comfortable with the quiet as well, but she also didn't want there to be an awkward silence. She hated those.

-

"I learned how to knit." He said bluntly, trying to keep a straight face for the joke, but a small smirk showing, only the faintest hint of a smile. Had anything really changed? He was still putting down the assholes that the Avengers couldn't, and he still didn't give a shit about what other people thought.

He did glance over at Nat for a moment, he had almost forgotten how attractive she was, long slender legs, toned muscles in all the right places, and gorgeous red hair... no... stop it... Frank pulled himself away from the thought and focused back on the road, almost a tiny bit flustered but showing nothing.

"I got a new place, a home away from home so I'm not living in the van like a bum. It's not much but it's mine and I didn't have to show ID when I signed my lease... well I didn't really sign a lease" he finished as he drove down the road, leaving the flashing blue lights and blaring sirens in the distance. The boys in blue were gonna have a fun time piecing this one together.

-

Natasha just laughed quietly, shaking her head. Honestly, the image of Frank Castle, the Punisher, knitting... it was hilarious. And also hot, because just think how many ways he'd invent to kill people with knitting needles... Nope, she was not getting aboard that train of thought.

"Nice. I guess I can't tell people that you're a hobo anymore, then. Well you already know about my apartment, right? I still have it. I got a cat one night when I was drunk. Named her Koshka, I was so plastered." Koshka. 'Cat' in Russian.

Her eyes narrowed suddenly as she noticed the look he cast over her body. "Did you, by any chance, just look at my legs, Frank?" She arched an eyebrow, smirking. Hell, at least he hadn't just stared at her tits, right?

-

"Let me get this straight... you named your cat...'Cat?'" Frank let out a small gruff chuckle, the smile on his face widening slightly into a lopsided grin, showing off his pearly whites. He did take care of himself. Being in the Marines put him on a schedule, wake up, brush your teeth, shave, and shower all in about 20 minutes. There were a lot of habits from the military lifestyle that were hard to kick.

His smile faded a small amount when she brought up the fact that he had looked her over and noticed her legs, he was slightly embarrassed. Embarrassing Frank Castle was no easy feat, but the spy did it easily.

"Nah, I was checking to make sure you weren't bleedin' all over my van," he said with another small chuckle, hoping to at least mask the fact that the unusually gruff and unfazed soldier was even slightly flustered.

-

"Yep. I named my cat 'Cat.' I was incredibly drunk, don't judge me. You know all about being incredibly drunk, too, you have no room to pass judgment." Natasha laugh, flashing a smile right back at him. Hell, even she could admit that that smile of his was hot, but that was just an objective fact. It didn't mean she herself was attracted to him or anything...

She could tell instantly that he was rather flustered by her words, so she decided to throw him a bone. Not much of a bone, but a small one. It would satisfy an angry chihuahua, or Logan.

"No, I'm not bleeding all over your van, but that's total bullshit excuse and you know it. It's okay, though. Hell, it's not like I haven't taken a couple looks at your arms, myself." His arms, his chest, his broad shoulders, his jawline…

-

He almost swerved into an old lady crossing the road at her remark before quickly regaining control of the vehicle. He would definitely admit that she had just done something very very rare for Frank, and that was to catch him off guard. He had _not _been expecting her to flirt with him, was that flirting? Or was she just joking? He honestly couldn't tell.

Luckily, he didn't have to respond to that as they had finally reached their destination, Frank's shitty, off the books, Brooklyn apartment. The paint was chipping from the sides and many of the windows were shattered, but it did afford Frank security, privacy, and considering he lived in the underground portion of the building, sound proofing.

"If you wanna come in for a drink, feel free, it's been a hell of a day." Frank offered. He honestly enjoyed the company, even if he would never admit it. He looked her in the eye as he spoke, something he did with everyone, but what he didn't expect was how beautiful and complex those deep green eyes were, accompanied by her slender and gorgeous face, and her fiery red hair that reflected the sun in a... what the hell was Frank getting himself into...

-

Natasha made a very halfhearted attempt to conceal her own laughter at the swerving, although she felt just a tiny bit bad for the poor old lady who probably just nearly had a heart attack. A grin spread across her face as she realized exactly how much she had totally surprised him. Taking him off guard was quickly becoming one of her favorite pastimes.

She had, in fact, definitely been flirting with him. It amused her to no end that he didn't seem to have completely caught on to that, that he wasn't sure of her intentions. Although, to be fair, she wasn't entirely sure of her own intentions at the moment, Those intentions definitely didn't involve those gorgeous lips of his, though. No way.

"I'd love to come in. Thank you. Fair warning, though, I may riot if you haven't got any vodka." She made a light joke to ease the tension, but that tension only raised as she watched him start to space out staring into her eyes. At this point, there was the faintest hint of a blush on her face, but besides that involuntary reflex to how flustered she was, she managed to keep her more private emotions externally invisible.

-

The fact that she blushed made him realize that she probably wasn't joking about the flirting. He even smiled again, a real smile, it wasn't every day that you saw the Black Widow blush. He kept his inner thoughts to himself though, deciding not to embarrass her further.


	2. Chapter2

**Warning: Smut ahead.**

Frank finally pulled his gaze away from Natasha and those damn intoxicating eyes of hers as he stepped out of the van. He made sure that no one was watching as he waited for her to follow him out, then covered the van with a tarp under the nearby stairs and walked down the set of crumbling concrete steps to his shitty apartment.

Once Nat was behind him, he put the rusty key into the large metal door and swung it open, revealing a decently sized studio apartment.

Apart from the fact that the place was falling apart, the furniture was decently clean and the place was at least somewhat organized. A large computer set up in the back and a bed in the corner, just big enough for two.

He walked in, opening the freezer and pulling out two bottles, one whiskey for himself and another vodka for the russian beauty before him. "Here, it's cheap, but it'll do the trick," Frank said in his usual deep whiskey soaked voice as he handed her the bottle of clear liquid before heading towards the couch. "Make yourself at home."

-

She flashed a truly genuine grin right back at him, just because she liked the look of _his_ smile so much. To be fair, it was a very attractive smile. Her blush disappeared thanks to an act of sheer willpower, only to quickly reappear as she realized that he must have noticed it to begin with, but she kept up appearances and carried on.

She hopped out of the car within a fraction of a second of him doing it himself. Her blood soaked gray blouse was still lying on the floor in the back of the van, leaving her topless but still in a bra, but she didn't really care much about the lack of decency.

"Nice place." The Russian told him quietly as she strolled inside, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice despite the fact that it was clearly kind of a dump. She seemed to actually, genuinely think the place wasn't bad, despite the fact that she herself lived in a fancy shmancy penthouse apartment.

"That'll be fine, thank you." She took the bottle and promptly tilted her head back, just chugging a solid quarter of it, then strolled over and draped herself across the couch next to him. "I need to get you some real vodka one of these days. The good shit."

-

"I think I'll stick with my whiskey any day of the week, but thanks for the offer," he chuckled as he popped the cork off his bottle with a satisfying pop before chugging down around half the bottle, letting the dark liquor flow into him, feeling the familiar burn on the way down and welcoming it happily.

"So... you want a shirt or something so you don't have to sit in here topless?" Frank offered while secretly hoping she would say no, because she looked damn sexy sitting there with only her bra. He realized that he had been looking over her beautiful bare skin again and quickly averted his eyes, hoping it seemed at least somewhat casual.

He took another drink of whiskey as the warmth of the first round was reaching him. He still couldn't help but think about how much he genuinely enjoyed being around Nat, she was the only one that really understood why he did what he did, and more than that she didn't judge him for it.

-

"If you insist. You clearly don't know what you're missing, though." She looked him dead in the eyes, smirking, then proceeded to down half the remaining contents of the vodka bottle, not breaking eye contact once while she did so. Once you've been literally scorched enough times in your life, the burn of liquor down your throat fades to a mere warmth, or at least that was what she said to anyone who asked her how the hell she could consume so much alcohol. That was pure bullshit, of course, but it was what she said.

"A shirt? Nah, I'm fine, thanks. I appreciate it, but I don't give half a shit." The Russian was apparently more than happy to fulfill his hopes, smiling at him. Feeling his gaze on her, she crossed her arms, emphasizing her cleavage just for the hell of it. More like just to fuck with him.

She felt pretty similarly about him, honestly. Frank could be a little bit of a dick sometimes, sure, but he got her a lot more than nearly any of her fellow Avengers did. Definitely better than any of the five guys that made up the rest of the original team, besides maybe Clint. Plus he was hot, and that definitely didn't hurt at all.

-

Frank was only an asshole to people out of necessity. When someone does what he did, the people close to them die, but with Nat it was different, he was a lot more playful and the alcohol definitely wasn't hurting. He downed the rest of his bottle as well, wincing slightly as the bite of the booze was swallowed, setting it aside.

As the warmth of the alcohol overcame him he realized that it was getting very hot in the medium sized apartment and he wasn't sure if it was because of her or the fact that he didn't have air conditioning. Either way, he decided to slip off his shirt as well, the toned muscles undercut by the many scars on his body, long gashes and punctures from blades, too many bullet holes to count along with a peppering of bird shot scars from an unfortunate run in with a shotgun, and a decent amount of burns from the many narrowly escaped explosions and raging fires.

"Now I'm wishing that I'd bought a couple fans for the place..." he joked as he tossed the shirt to the side. "And don't worry about the shirt, you look a lot better without it," he smirked, though he wasn't anywhere near drunk, the alcohol was definitely affecting his thought process. He scooted slightly closer to Nat almost subconsciously, trying to take in more of her without realizing it.

-

Well, if he was worrying about the people close to him dying, then Nat was one of the best people for him to get close to. She was a notoriously difficult woman to kill, and as evidenced by the plethora of scars scattered across her body, that wasn't for a lack of trying by a great deal of people who had faced her. It wasn't terribly common for her to be relaxed around much of anyone, but she found herself just feeling comfortable with him somehow.

She finished off the rest of her bottle of vodka, then set the empty bottle down next to his. Unlike him, she didn't wince, not because she didn't feel it, but because she was a Russian, goddamnit.

It was definitely getting very warm in there, she thought as her eyes flicked over his muscled body. The spy moved nearer to him in return, until she was close enough that her thigh just barely touched his. "Damn." She breathed out, almost involuntarily. "Yeah, could definitely use some fans. It's kinda warm in here. My poor Russian self is used to the cold, you know."

-

He noticed her staring at him... and he enjoyed the feeling. Without thinking he began to lean closer to her, more and more of their skin touching as he did so... he had no idea what he where he was going and definitely no clue in hell what he was going to do when he got there.

As he inched closer to her he could feel tension bubbling to the surface, a rough hand laid on her soft thigh, "ya know, you aren't too bad yourself," he playfully winked at her with a small half smile, the muscles on his chest and arms dotted with sweat from the heat in the room giving the slightest sheen to his skin.

"I'm sorry that I don't have any fans, because it seems like it just keeps getting hotter in here..." he said as his deep brooding brown eyes fell on her beautiful emerald green ones, seeing the same pain he always carried behind them... in that moment Frank realized that he didn't have to carry that burden alone.

-

She flushed just the slightest bit as he leaned in toward her, and very slowly wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in even closer. Her eyes were focused on him, and so were her thoughts, although those thoughts were running absolutely wild at this point. She was somehow sure where this was headed, yet not sure at all at the same time. It was definitely headed towards his bed, though, she decided.

"Oh really? Not too bad? Why thank you ever so much." Her tone was sarcastic, but she winked right back at him, then slowly looked over his body, and the sweat on it. She barely even realized that she was reaching out a hand until her fingers brushed one of his bare biceps.

"If it's so hot... maybe we should... take off a few more layers of clothing?" She suggested in a low voice, looking up into his eyes. His deliciously dark chocolate-colored eyes... Wow, she was really getting distracted today.

-

"Couldn't agree more..." he said slowly in his deep gruff voice as she pulled him in, their lips mere inches apart and their bodies grazing each other with each movement. Frank slipped his large rough hands tenderly around her waist almost protectively as he pulled her closer.

Their foreheads now rested together, their noses brushing against the other and her soft sexy lips nearly touching his. His mind was both calm and racing at the same time, his senses were on fire with every touch. The tension and heat building between the two of them to the point that it was nearly boiling over.

He could even smell the vodka on her breath and feel the heat as she breathed onto him, his grasp on her waist gripping slightly tighter yet unmoving and his other hand came up to brush the hair from her face and gently rest on her soft features.

-

"Glad to hear that we can agree on something." She joked, her voice soft. Big emerald green eyes met his brown ones for a long moment. A small smile curved her lips as she just looked at him, hardly able to believe what she was seeing, that this was really happening. But hey, at least if this was a dream it would one of her very few good ones. Not like she'd ever admit that she'd wanted this to happen since about five minutes after she first met him, though.

One deceitfully delicate-seeming hand reached up, cupping his face for an instant, then slid to the back of his neck and pressed his lips to hers.

As she kissed him, it was like every nerve ending in her body was suddenly lit on fire—even more than just minutes ago—in the most delicious way. She pressed him back against the couch, moving into his lap in a quick motion without ever removing her mouth from his.

-

Frank met the kiss, lightly biting her bottom lip as she moved into his lap, but he wasn't about to let her take control of this without at least a little bit of a fight. Summoning up a bit of strength, Frank gripped her upper thighs with his strong well toned arms, lifting her up. Even with the quick and sudden motion their lips still locked, as he carried her to the bed the kiss became deeper.

Laying her down on the bed Frank slipped his arms behind her back, toying with the bra strap playfully as he bit and pulled her bottom lip only slightly, enough that she would feel the pinch of his teeth. He felt the first hook on the clasp release as he moved to sensually kiss her neck, leaving a trail of smaller kisses on her jawline until he got to his intended target.

He bit down firmly on her neck, as their bodies were pressed together on the rather small bed... Frank was completely entranced by her beauty and the way she made him feel, it was almost like magic.

-

Natasha made a very small sound of protest to being picked up, but she didn't struggle. It was sort of like the sound a cat makes when you startle it with an unexpected petting. Her arms snaked around his shoulders as he lifted her, and her legs wrapped around his waist, legs that not just could kill a man, but had done so, and many times.

The Russian reached back behind herself, quickly undoing her bra and tossing it out of the way without a second thought or any concern about where it went. As his lips met her neck, the slightest shiver ran through her, but she managed to stay silent until he actually bit down.

"You're wearing too many clothes, and so am I." She murmured, her voice low and slightly rough as she tugged at the waistband of his pants. "Either you back up just enough to take those off, or I rip them off entirely. Or we just call the whole thing off and blame it on the booze, but that's no fun at all."

-

"I'd like to see you try to rip them off," Frank growled seductively in her ear as he began kissing slowly down her body, agonizingly slow, he knew he was teasing the spy, and definitely knew she didn't like to wait. She wouldn't be mad for long as the marine reached one of her soft tender nipples, taking it into his mouth lightly sucking while brushing his teeth against the surface.

One of his hands lightly teased the other nipple as the other effortlessly unbuttoned Natasha's jeans. He had meant the challenge about ripping his pants off because that was something he definitely wanted to see... and feel.

He continued moving down her body leaving rough kisses as he went until he made his way to her jeans, pulling the zipper down with his teeth he grabbed the waistband of both her underwear and pants and pulled them off in one fluid motion.

-

She would have answered immediately, but she was a little bit preoccupied, as the softest hint of a moan slipped past her lips. Her eyes closed for a moment, but opened back up and glared at him without any real malevolence when his mouth left her nipple.

The spy waited just long enough for him to get her jeans off of her, making it clear just from her expression alone that she was anything but happy with his pace. If she secretly did enjoy it... which wasn't impossible... she didn't let on. Not much, anyway. She gave him just enough time to get her pants off of her before she grabbed him and without any warning, flipped them over, landing herself on top of him.

"You want me to rip them off, have it your way." She didn't waste any time, unlike him, before she quickly and roughly yanked his clothes off, depositing them on the floor with the rest of their discarded wardrobes. Looking down at him, she straddled his hips and smirked. "You should feel lucky that I didn't _literally _rip them off."

-

He wasn't expecting the flip, but at the same time, he didn't try to stop it. He let her pin him down with her body, if only just for the moment. The feeling of her naked body resting on top of him was enough to drive a man crazy.

"Nice moves, Romanoff," he smirked as he spoke "but what's your next move?" He challenged the redhead. Her soft supple skin resting on his, his cock stiffening and pointing towards the ceiling now that there were no pants to hide his thick 8-inch member throbbing with anticipation.

He could see every sexy inch of the spy from this angle and he definitely liked the view. He loved that she could match his strength and maybe more, it was almost thrilling for the marine who hadn't had a real challenge in years.

-

He'd practically dared her to take control and it was just a tiny bit hard to do so while underneath a 200-pound marine, so she couldn't quite see how he could have possibly _not_ been expecting her to flip him. As if she would do anything else.

"You'll see what I'm planning when I do it, and you'll like it." She leaned over him, capturing his mouth with her own, partially to shut up his snarky mouth and partially because his lips looked particularly kissable just then.

She laid like that for a moment, just kissing him, giving him the slightest hint of the teasing he'd given her earlier. Then, again giving him no warning, she took his cock into one hand, and with a swift buck of her hips, thrust him firmly inside her.

-

He nearly gasped as her tight wet pussy enveloped his cock, he really hadn't expected the suddenness of it but to him it felt like heaven. The marine gripped her hips roughly as he pulled her down even harder onto him.

The kiss was amazing, it was also violent, just the way he liked it. They way they were doing this was very similar to their lifestyles, intense... violent... dangerous... he growled with pleasure into her mouth as their lips mashed together, the bed shaking under the two strong human bodies violently moving with the rhythm of each of their figures.

He let her have this moment of control for a few moments, enjoying the feeling before deciding to take that control for himself. He wrapped his arms around her hips thrusting his hips upward into her, using the momentum to roll her over and bringing himself on top of the spy, staying deeply rooted inside her the entire time.

-

She almost managed to entirely bite back a moan, but she breathed out a very soft noise of pleasure against his lips. One hand slid up his body and cupped the back of his head, pulling him even closer to her as he thrust up into her. They should have done this a long time ago, she thought to herself. They should have done it a long time ago and kept doing it again and again.

If just about anyone else had done that to her, just flipped her like that with no warning, she probably would have slapped the hell out of him, or worse. Possibly _much_ worse. She didn't get the wave of instinct telling her to fight back that she usually did when surprised like that. She trusted him. That was why she'd come to him after she'd been shot, after all.

She let out a soft hiss of breath as he pushed her down, because newsflash, while he had performed decent first aid on her, that wound was still far from healed. She looked up at him with an arched eyebrow, spreading her legs and wrapping them around his hips, keeping her cool despite the fact that he felt amazing inside her. A light layer of sweat from the slight exertion and the heat made her skin glisten.

-

Frank slammed into her deeper as hard as he could while still being cautious of her wound because, even though he was kind of an asshole sometimes... well... most of the time, he actually gave a damn about Natasha. The spy was one of the few people that Frank legitimately respected and cared for, and knowing that she was too stubborn to die kept him from pushing her away.

Watching her body move in unison with his was beautiful and for a brief moment the thought of "why" crossed his mind... why would someone so beautiful... so smart... so deeply amazing be with a guy like him? He was damaged goods... he brushed the thought from his mind as he continued pushing himself into her.

The feeling of her legs wrapped tightly around him felt nothing short of incredible, he leaned down with his large muscular frame placing his lips once again on hers, using his tongue to lightly play with the bottom of her lip as he felt her try to hide her moans against his movements. This moment was one of the few times Frank felt that this... this beautiful moment with her was where he was truly meant to be.

-

Even if he hadn't been being careful with her, she wouldn't have minded in the slightest. She didn't care in the slightest about being hurt, hell, it could even be nice if done the right way at the right time. Besides, she had an incredibly high pain tolerance. As it was, though, she loved the way he was manhandling her, even if he wasn't totally letting loose.

She looked up at the man on top of her and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at the sight of the man on top of her. It was almost hard to believe that it was happening, that she was with him, but then again, she figured that it was probably just sex for him. Who would ever want damaged goods like her, anyway? Maybe as a quick fuck, a friend with benefits, but as anything more, not so much. Frank was a man who was so incredible in every way, to Nat's mind, that he could have been with any woman he wanted to, but instead, he was with her. Luckily, she was drunk enough that her thoughts didn't stay on track long enough to really get absorbed in that.

Her eyes fluttered closed as his mouth met hers, and she gently nipped at his lower lip after a moment. She slipped one arm around him, holding him close to her even as she bucked her hips up against him, driving him into her even deeper. Her free hand gripped one of his hips tightly enough to leave a bruise, although she didn't even realize it.

-

The bed shuddered and creaked under the power of Franks thrusts, each time he pushed his cock deeper and deeper into her, harder and harder against her, and faster and faster matching her movements. The two bodies in sync with each other, sweat dripping as the smell of lust filled the room. The feeling of her soft beautiful lips on his, her smooth face rubbing against the growing stubble in a violent yet deeply loving kiss.

Frank truly hoped that this wasn't the last time he saw her... or felt her... he hoped that this wouldn't be a one night stand brought on by the alcohol and stress of the day. He knew he cared for her deeply now which was something he hadn't felt for many many years... the sensations were not only physical but the closeness he felt for her was emotional as well and that was unusual for the normally cold and lonely marine. He didn't know where this would lead but Frank wanted to take this path anywhere... as long as it was with her.

The feeling of her nipping at his lip drove him closer to the edge as his hips met hers over and over again, a deep gravelly lustful moan escaped his lips almost sounding like a growl, he couldn't get enough of the spy. He felt her squeezing his hip with her strong fingers, knowing it would leave a bruise, but he didn't care... he loved it... every moment of it.

-

She finally let out a very soft little moan, slowly becoming more and more overcome by the sensations washing over her body. There was a dull pain in her side, but if anything, the contrast enhanced the experience as a whole. Plus she sort of had a thing for pain. Just a little bit. Hopefully Frank didn't have neighbors, she thought, or he'd be getting complaints, and lots of them, but she couldn't bring herself to really care about anything but the way he made her feel, not right then, at least.

Natasha was still in complete denial of both Frank's emotions and her own, but she was still trying not to think about anything deep, not now anyway. Sure, she would die for him, kill for him, live for him, but that didn't mean she was falling for him or anything. It definitely didn't mean that she already had fallen for him. Besides, even if she did, she believed that there was no chance he could feel the same way about her, so what was the point? Of course, if he *did* feel that way about her, she'd definitely never turn him down. She would have followed him anywhere, not that she'd admit it in a million years.

Her skin glistened with sweat where his body wasn't covering her, and she couldn't help but tighten her arm and hand on him as he slowly brought her closer as well. Her cheeks were flushed as she pulled her lips from his for the briefest of moments, just to take in a single breath, only to quickly and fiercely capture his mouth again a second later.

-

"_Natasha_..." he gruffly moaned against her mouth, the feelings of pleasure and pain mixing together to form something new and wonderful, the wood of the bedframe making a slight cracking sound as the head of the bed slammed against the wall leaving indentations on the thick concrete. Everything was perfect... _she_ was perfect. The moan that escaped from her lips was incredibly sexy and almost even cute in a way, and their passionate liplock was only growing more and more fiery as time went on. His eyes were closed as one of his hands left her hip and moved to her face, slipping behind her head and pulling her deeper into the kiss, pulling her hair as he did so.

Frank was definitely falling for Natasha, he refused to admit it to himself but deep down he knew that his fate was sealed the second her lips touched his and he was okay with that. Maybe he wasn't exactly 'falling' for her... because maybe... just maybe... he had already fallen for the beauty. He loved the feeling of being inside her... he loved the feeling of her strong thighs firmly pushing him deeper and deeper... he loved the way her voice sounded when she moaned... he loved... her... though he would never admit it to himself, at least he couldn't right now, but deep deep down he had madly fallen for the gorgeous redhead. The marine wanted this to last, whatever _this _was, and he meant beyond just the sex that they were having (though that was perfect) he just wanted her.. all of her.

He was getting closer and closer to climax with every thrust that slammed into the small redheaded spy, his movements becoming harder and faster, his cock throbbing and pulsing inside her, and his grip on her good hip becoming tighter and tighter. Damn, he was so close, but he wasn't going to lose, he felt like he had to make her cum first even though it wasn't really a competition. He honestly just wanted to make her feel as amazing as he felt in this moment.

-

Hearing his voice saying her name, saying her name _like that_ finally cemented in her mind exactly how real this all was. His tone, the look on his face... it was slowly dawning on her that this was actually happening, and that maybe, just maybe, this was more than just sex for him, too. Deep down, she hoped so.

"_Frank_..." She could feel him getting close, and as his hand tightened on her, it finally pushed her over the edge. As his name slipped past her lips, her hand tightened on his hip and the slightest shudder ran through her body.

-

The way she said his name... he realized in that moment that she felt the same way about him that he did about her. That thought combined with the feeling of Nat's growing orgasm was enough to send him over the edge as he slammed into her deeply a couple of times before rooting himself as deeply inside her as he could. His cum filling her deeply, shooting into her over and over with each throb.

After he finished he stayed like that for a long while, deeply rooted inside her, his lips pressed to hers, completely still besides the thunderous beat of his heart. "...I love you..." he mumbled in a barely audible whisper, he hadn't meant to say it, and it was almost a subconscious action, but now that the words were out of the box, they couldn't be put back in.

-

Natasha just laid there for a moment, staring at him. Had she misheard him? No. He had definitely said what she thought he had. There was no question, but she could hardly believe it. Her heart was racing, her mind blanking entirely, and her lips parted slightly as if she was going to say something, but no sound came out.

Then a small smile spread across her face. He meant it. He really meant it. Finally, after several long seconds, she managed to speak, her voice soft and uncertain for once in her life. "I love you too."

-

The second he heard her say those words back to him he kissed her, it was without thinking, completely out of happiness, another emotion Frank hadn't felt in a very long time.

A big dumb grin spread across his face, the kind you see in movies, it was half awestruck half his usual cocky half smile, but something in his eyes had changed... they were no longer just filled with pain.


	3. Chapter3

**Author's note: There is a bit of fluffy filler in here towards the middle, so I'm sorry if it's kinda boring.**

Two months later, Natasha slipped out of the master bathroom of her apartment quietly, holding something behind her. Her expression was carefully neutral, despite the fact that she was absolutely terrified of what she needed to tell Frank. Her mouth was suddenly dry as she sat next to him on the couch, where he had his leg propped up on the coffee table, an ice pack on a gunshot wound in his leg. She carefully kept the object in her hand out of sight, and took a deep breath before turning her head to look at him.

"Hey, Frank? Just... out of curiosity... what are your thoughts on... kids?"

-

He could read body language well enough to tell that something was up, she was scared... and not many things scared her, actually, as far as Frank knew, nothing scared the russian spy. When she sat down he knew it was serious whatever it was, she was also hiding something behind her back and when those words left her lips his mind went immediately blank. Kids? She was sterile, right? But... what if? He thought, he was internally panicked, and part of him became lost in the past with his kids who were dead now... could he really do that again? Put himself out there like that again?...

He was silent for way too long, staring at her, suddenly he made up his mind, or rather his mind made itself up, because without warning he pulled Nat into a loving and passionate kiss.

-

She stared right back at him as he was silent, her stress levels slowly building. He must have realized what she meant, he was probably thinking of his family, probably thinking of the fastest exit, the quickest way away from her. Her and what was now inside her. She was shocked to find that she was fighting off tears in her eyes. Hormones...

Then he kissed her, and she instantly relaxed into his arms. She managed to toss the pregnancy test in her hand on to the coffee table without pulling away from him, but she finally broke their kiss after a few moments, looking up into his eyes. "So, apparently I'm not sterile anymore. I think it might have happened after, you know... when I was revived after Vormir..." That was an unpleasant memory to say the least, and not one she wanted to linger on. What had happened back there wasn't common knowledge, but she had figured he had to know, so she had never brought it up before.

-

He smiled his big dumb half smile, tears lightly wetting his eyes. He was truly happy at this very moment, it was almost like the world was giving his rotten soul a second chance at life... a second chance at a family...

"You what? Ya know what, doesn't matter, this is amazing... _you _are amazing..." Frank told her, still smiling and holding her tightly in his arms. "I love you so goddamn much," he murmured softly into her ear as he pulled her closer.

-

She grinned right back at him, doing her best not to cry, too. Honestly, she'd thought he might react to this a whole lot less positively, and she was incredibly glad that he was taking it so well, although she still wasn't sure how she herself felt about the whole situation. On one hand, she was finally going to have a kid, which she'd never thought she would ever be able to, but on the other hand... holy shit, she was going to have a kid.

"No, _you_ are amazing. I love you, too, so, so much." She couldn't keep the relieved tone out of her voice as she nuzzled closer to his chest, laughing softly. "You have no idea how _adorable_ you look right now."

-

He lightly punched her arm. "Who you callin adorable, huh, gorgeous?" He said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood and stop the cry fest from happening. He looked her deeply in the eyes for a moment, he had been planning something but wanted to wait a couple more months... but hell, this was an extenuating circumstance. Frank got off the couch and quickly ran into her bedroom, telling her, "stay right there" as he ran. He pulled something he'd stashed from under her mattress.

He came back and took Nat's hand, awkwardly struggling to get down on one knee. "Listen... you know I'm not good with all this emotional crap... and I wanted to wait... but... Natasha Alianovna Romanoff..." he paused pulling out the small ring box and opening it to reveal an intricately designed engagement ring, diamonds accenting the spider and skull on the piece of jewelry. "Will... will you marry me?"

-

"No, stop that, get up, you've been shot, you beautiful idiot." She tugged him up off the floor to sit next to her again. "Don't hurt yourself." She paused, looking into his eyes, then bam. Well, there went the waterworks. Not a whole lot of waterworks, but a single tear dripped down her face, and she was a little bit too distracted to even notice.

"Yes, yes I will marry you. I'd be *honored* to marry you." She whispered, grinning at him uncontrollably. There was no chance in hell that she'd thought she would be engaged today, but hey, better to try and say 'I do' before the bump started showing.

-

For a moment he panicked, but only for the briefest of moments. In all honesty he had completely forgotten about the bullet in his leg in all the excitement... Frank was probably one of the few people who could accidentally forget about being shot, that was a trait he and Nat shared, and it probably wasn't a good thing.

"God, that's a relief, I really didn't wanna return the ring," Frank joked as a single tear fell down his face as well. He moved to get back on the couch, struggling slightly due to the pain that Nat had 'helped' him remember. He slipped the ring gently onto her finger before pulling her into another deep passionate kiss full of love.

-

"Well, I wouldn't want you to have to return it, so how could I say no?" She joked back. Reminding him of the gunshot wound might not have been very helpful, but she did help him to get back up. She stood up and pulled him gently back to his feet, then returned to her spot on the couch, curling up with her feet tucked underneath her.

She kissed him back happily for a few very loving moments, then pulled back to raise an eyebrow at him, smiling. "When did you get that ring? How long have you been planning this?"

-

"Does that matter?" He asked her, slightly embarrassed, luckily his darker skin tone hid blushes very well. Maybe he had seen it at a jewelry store the day after their first time together... and maybe he had bought it without a second thought... "Umm, I bought it a little bit ago..." Technically that wasn't a lie.

"So, are we doing the whole big wedding thing or just hitting up an Elvis Presley priest somewhere in Vegas?" he teased her. Normally he wasn't the light hearted jokester but this was definitely a very, very, _very_ special occasion, and Frank was happier than he'd been in a long long long time, maybe the happiest he'd ever been... all that mattered was the tw-..._three _of them.

-

"A little bit ago? So... days? Or days after we first slept together?" She teased him gently, her grin widening when she realized that he was blushing slightly. He really was adorable, honestly, just a teddy bear deep down, and she vowed to bring that fact up more often from that moment forward.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe somewhere in between? Not big but not Elvis, either? Vegas isn't any really any fun without alcohol, and I guess I kind of can't have any, anymore." She suddenly looked almost panicked for a split second as realization dawned on her. "I can't drink. Holy fuck."

-

Frank couldn't help but let out the smallest of chuckles. Here she was sitting here facing one of the scariest things in the world, something she never thought she'd face, and she was worried about not being able to drink. This was exactly one of the many reasons he loved this woman. "Listen, it's okay... I won't drink either if it makes you feel better?" That hurt to say, but they were in it together and Frank wanted this with her more than anything in the world.

"Don't go putting the king down like that, Elvis Aaron Presley was a god among men," he exclaimed, feigning hurt and overdramatically placing a hand over his heart. Over these past months with her, the spy had definitely rubbed off on him, he'd learned to loosen up just a little and smile more, but only around her. Everyone else still got the asshole treatment.

-

"Oh, I'll live, don't worry. I'll complain like mad, but I'll live. Even if vodka is basically the air I need to breathe." She chuckled quietly, leaning her head against his shoulder, then looked up at him, green eyes meeting his brown ones. "You don't have to do that, you'd be miserable." She was going to be absolutely miserable, too, but she figured it would be better if at least one of them didn't have to be in hell. Then again, it might be nice to not have to go through it alone... but no, she would let him be happy.

"He might have been a god among men, but the impersonators aren't." She laughed, grinning at him. "Anyway, if you really want to get hitched to me, I figure we either do this soon, like in the next month, maybe two, or wait a year or so. I at least want to look good in the wedding photos, if nothing else."

-

He looked into those beautiful emerald eyes for a long moment, the eyes he'd fallen in love with almost instantly. "Let's do it as soon as we can. I don't wanna wait to have you be mine," Frank murmured sweetly as he looked at her.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him so that he was holding her and placed a kiss on her forehead before laying his head on top of hers. There was no place the marine would rather be than with her in that moment.

-

"I already am yours, and I always will be." She told him quietly, a soft smile on her face. "But, I do want to be your wife..." As she said 'wife,' her words caught in her throat. Her? A wife? _His_ wife? It all seemed impossible. Just a few short months ago she'd been somewhat happily single, almost content with her cat, her missions, and her vodka, and now she was pregnant and had just gotten engaged. It was almost impossible for her to wrap her head around.

"...As soon as I possibly can be." She finished her sentence after an odd couple seconds of silence, then slipped into his lap, making sure not to put any weight on his injured leg.

-

The silence was comforting in a weird sort of way, just the two of them, cuddled together on her couch. His head lightly resting against hers and her body pressed up against his, that warmth and comfort was something that he was slowly getting used to and something that he couldn't live without now that he had it. He loved this woman so much more than he thought he could ever love again and that astounded the marine.

He couldn't believe how far they'd come and he couldn't wait to see how far they would go together. He knew that this was something that would last a lifetime, he just hoped that they both got to see it through. In their line of work, any day could be your last and they both knew that, but they were still happy. It was strange but amazing at the very same time.

-

Feeling the rise and fall of his chest against her body with every breath he took, she would have stayed there forever if she could. Everything about the moment was perfect, besides the fact that she was so completely afraid of being a parent that she felt ill. Or maybe it was just morning sickness. Who knew? Not her, that was for sure.

As the assassin relaxed in his arms, closing her eyes, a very large, long-haired orange tabby cat wandered into the room. It was Koshka, the cat named cat. Apparently, the feline thought that only gingers were allowed there, because she immediately headed over to Frank and without a moment's hesitation, buried her claws into his leg.

-

He almost didn't flinch, just grimaced as the cat tore into his leg like a demon. He and that cat had never seen eye to eye from day one, and this had become the usual for them. Frank leaned over, carefully pulling the claws out of his legs so as to not hurt the cat. He picked up the beast and placed it on the opposite side of the couch from him, on the other side of Nat.

"I swear one of these days I'm going to flush that cat down the toilet for using my legs like a scratching post," he announced as he resumed cuddling the love of his life on the couch, ignoring the pain in his leg.

-

"Sorry about her. She takes after me, I guess." It wasn't the first time that Nat had apologized for her cat, and it probably wouldn't be the last. It wasn't even the first time she'd made a comment about her cat taking after her.

The feline glared daggers at him, then stretched out across the assassin's lap. Frank and Koshka might not see eye to eye, but that didn't stop the tabby from making direct eye contact with him as if daring him to try to make her move.

-

It felt so weird to him that he was just cuddling his new fiancé on the couch with her cat... it was just so... normal... but that wasn't the weird part, the weird part was the fact that he felt comfortable with normal for the first time in his life. He didn't have a need to go out and do his thing, he just wanted to stay here with her. Of course he would get back to taking out the criminal element in New York eventually, but for now he was content just watching TV like a normal couple.

He picked up the remote to her large flatscreen TV and put on some show that he didn't really care about watching. He was more interested in the beautiful woman nestled in his arms and avoiding the glaring eyes of that hell beast on her lap.

-

Natasha had done similarly normal-seeming, romantic or domestic things before, but honestly, most of that had been undercover. She had posed as Clint's wife or his girlfriend, and for one particularly spicy mission, Phil's mistress, and of course she had actually had relationships before, but this was different. Maybe it was because he understood being a killer, maybe it was because she was pregnant, maybe it was because she had found someone who could keep up with her, maybe a combination of all three, but this was different. Even her love of violence wasn't as strong as her love for the man holding her.

"I love you." The assassin murmured quietly, just as distracted as him from the television he'd turned on. As she petted the cat in her lap, the feline slowly relaxed, closing her eyes and purring quietly, then started kneading the ginger's lap.

-

He felt the same way as she did, though he hadn't been in any kind of relationship since Maria had died, not even a pretend one. For the first time since that tragic day he felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, that maybe he could finally grieve their loss instead of being stuck in his never ending war... and maybe, just maybe, not going to die in some violent way... he loved her more than anything and if she asked him to, he would give up his personal war... with a lot of arguing of course, but eventually...

"I love you too," he replied as he carefully leaned down to kiss the redhead, gently as to not wake up the demonic furball who slumbered on her lap. The feeling of her soft lips always made his heart melt.

-

Natasha had always figured that when she died, it would either be in a blaze of glory, killing her opponents or completing a mission on her way out, or she would finally get caught on a stealth op and be put down like a dog. The first option had always been what she'd hoped for, and the second was what she feared. Now, though, she could actually almost imagine herself living a long, full life. She definitely had to make sure to survive at least the next several months, anyway.

Her petting of the cat ceased as she kissed him back, and it turned out that the 'demonic furball' wasn't actually slumbering at all. By the time Nat's lips left Frank's, the orange tabby had resumed glaring at him.

-

Frank glared back at the monstrous creatine with equal amounts of hatred. The weird thing was, he felt like there might be a mutual respect for the ferocious feline and the murderous marine. The both loved and wanted to protect the amazing woman between them.

"So how do we trick Stark into paying for the wedding?" Frank joked after he finally pulled his gaze away from the hateful hairball and looked at the beautiful redhead.

-

"Honestly? I'd probably just have to ask, knowing him. He can be sweet, sometimes. Not very often, but sometimes." She laughed quietly, leaning her head against his shoulder and tilting her face up to look at him.

The cat held Frank's gaze until he looked away, then when back to purring and kneading Nat's lap. She wasn't holding back, fully digging her claws into her owner's thigh, but the ginger didn't seem to mind at all.

-

"Where's the fun in that?" He chuckled softly back at her as they cuddled. Placing another kiss on the woman's forehead, he looked down at her and noticed the light blood stains on her pants.

"You should probably stop the furball over there before she fully ruins your clothes again," he knew it wasn't too big of a deal, they had both dealt with _way_ more pain than cat claws, but he still respected that she didn't even flinch slightly... It was kind of a turn on, if he was being honest.

-

"Maybe I could get him to adopt me? I am an orphan after all, and the father of the bride is supposed to pay for the wedding. Might be just a touch too late for me to be adopted, though." She laughed, grinning at him, then looked down at the cat clawing her lap.

"I'm so used to it at this point, I didn't even realize she was doing it." She grinned, but didn't even stop Koshka's antics, just continuing to pet the tabby cat. "Oh well, red is my aesthetic after all, what's a few more bloodstains?"

-

"Fair enough," he said as he rolled his eyes at the redhead's words. He knew she and Tony had slept together, but that didn't bother Frank much because he knew that the spy was his, just as much as she knew he was hers.

"We should get a dog," he said only half joking and looking at the four legged demon as he said it. "Woof!" He barked at the fiery colored beast like a rottweiler to scare the orange asshole and laughed about it afterward. It was payback for the many scratches.

-

Nat just made an unhappy sort of wordless noise at the dog comment, then paused, actually considering it. "Well, we could get a puppy for the baby to grow up with." She told him quietly, a small smile on her face.

Koshka looked Frank dead in his eyes, then stretched her paws out and sank her claws deep into his upper thigh, rather scarily close to his crotch. Her eyes somehow displayed an expression that conveyed a deady promise. 'If you ever do that again, the child inside Natasha will be the last offspring you're ever capable of having.'

-

He was almost afraid of the furry creature, she seemed like she meant business and wouldn't hesitate to sterilize him with the flick of a small angry paw, and Frank respected the fuzzball for it honestly. He didn't react though, he refused to show weakness in front of his mortal enemy.

"God, how did I get so lucky and how did you get so cute?" He laughed softly before realizing he'd called the deadliest assassin in the world 'cute' and felt like she'd probably killed men for less than that.

-

The cat seemed to take his lack of repeating the bark as an act of submission to her will, and curled back up in Nat's lap, closing her eyes and purring. She even stopped clawing the lap she was in, miraculously enough.

The deadliest assassin in the world swatted his arm lightly, laughing. "First of all, I'm the one who got lucky here, not you, and second of all, I'm not cute. You, on the other hand, you're adorable." The grin on her face, however, was definitely very cute, despite how much she might deny it.

-

"That dumb grin on your face says otherwise," he flirted with an equally dumb grin on his face. These two deadly murderers were one of the cutest couples in the world and it was strangely wholesome for anyone that could be watching. The beast, on the other hand, was anything but wholesome in Frank's mind, but he really didn't want to die in his sleep so he would never insult that four legged furry monster... to its face, that is.

Frank really wanted to crack open a cold one and light a cigarette, but he wasn't going to, he was going to support his fiance during the pregnancy by abstaining from drinking and smoking with her... well, maybe he'd sneak a smoke occasionally when he was out, though...

-

"_Rude_." She pouted slightly, lower lip sticking out, only further proving her complete and utter cuteness. "My grin is not dumb, and if it were yours would be even more dumb. You should see your face right now, you're absolutely adorable."

Koshka looked up at Frank again as if she could read his mind and knew that he was mentally talking shit. Her eyes promised pain and suffering to all that crossed her, starting with him.

Natasha would never ask him to abstain from anything for her, except maybe smoking, but only when he was near her. Secondhand smoke was a thing, after all. She didn't mind him getting drunk, though, not really. Well, she might mind just a little bit, but she wanted him to do what made him happy.

-

The only thing that truly made Frank happy over these past few days was doing everything he could to make Natasha happy. He even tolerated that satanic animal for her because he knew that the spy loved that thing.

"Fine, we're both dumb, it's settled" he joked. He probably needed to quit smoking anyway, so this was as good of an excuse as any. He leaned over and kissed her again because the man just couldn't get enough of his russian fiancee and he flipped off the furball on her lap while they kissed. Just out of spite.

-

"Well, I think that's a compromise I can agree on." She joked back, still grinning, and wrapped an arm around him as he kissed her. After only a few moments, though, she pulled away, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Did you just flip off my cat?" She questioned him, smirking, and the feline in question dug claws into Nat's lap as she happily purred and kneaded the ginger. That wasn't really an intentional move, she honestly seemed to be pleased that her owner was apparently sticking up for her.

-

"Ummm... no?" Frank said as he had hoped that the spy hadn't seen him flip her hateful pet the bird. Of course she'd seen it, she was the world's greatest spy, after all. Almost like the real life James bond, (Sean Connery, not any of those other wannabes... maybe Frank's opinion on James Bond films was a little too intense).

"... maybe... yes..." he finally admitted to her, "but that furball deserved it." He blamed the small ball of anger in her lap and laughed a little as the words left his lips. "Is your leg okay? That's a lot of scratching." Frank worried about the woman even though she never really needed to be worried about.

-

Her eyebrows raised as he denied what she knew perfectly well he had done, and she crossed her arms, looking him dead in his eyes. She just shook her head as he finally admitted it, chuckling quietly and smiling at him. "She'll get used to you eventually, I promise."

She looked down at Koshka, and the cat went still, gazing up at her in return. After a moment of the two making eye contact, the fuzzball carefully removed her claws from the ginger's leg, and said ginger looked back up at her fiancé. "Yeah, it's fine, in less than a week there won't even be a mark."

-

Frank looked at his beautiful fiancé and then at his watch, it was a little past 16:00 and they hadn't left the house all day. Not that he minded, but maybe they should extricate themselves from the couch and at least take a shower or something, though they probably shouldn't do much considering his leg was still healing.

"Ya know... we haven't left the house in a full day right? Are we becoming one of _those_ couples that just stay home 24/7 with their pets?" He laughed as he made no effort to move. The fact that she healed so quickly did make him jealous, especially when he had to limp over rooftops with a bullet in his leg.

-

"Damn. Probably ought to do something about that, shouldn't we?" She chuckled quietly, but just nuzzled closer to him. "Or maybe not. We could get off the couch, though. How does a shower for two sound to you? Or maybe a bath?" Scooping up the ball of fur, she finally slipped out of Frank's lap, then set the feline down on the couch next to him.

"Let's hope we're not becoming one of those couples, or you'll lose all your muscle and then I might break you in bed." She wouldn't become any less fit, mainly because her serum kept her in top physical condition whether she worked out or not, but he on the other hand wasn't so lucky. Another bonus of the serum was that she healed five times as quickly as a normal person.

-

"Well, normally a shower would be great, but..." Frank motioned to his bum leg and he pushed himself off the couch with a heavy grunt as he put weight on the wounded limb, "...a bath sounds a little better at the moment... as long as you take one with me." He winked as he limped towards the bathroom with her.

He made a very overdramatically large circle around the monster on the floor, staring at the animal the entire time. "Oh, you *wish* you could break me in bed," Frank laughed as he walked with the spy.

-

"A bath sounds good to me, too." She chuckled, smiling, then quickly wrapped an arm around him to take some weight off of his wounded leg, looking concerned at the noise of pain he made. "Easy there, tiger, let me give you a hand, okay?"

She helped him into the bathroom, laughing as he moved as far away from the cat as he possibly could. "I could break you in bed _easily_. Especially if you keep spending all your time cuddling with me on the couch and not doing anything physical. I just choose to be gentle." She was messing with him, honestly… to a certain extent, anyway… since he could lift more than she could.

-

He begrudgingly let her help him into the bathroom, mostly because she'd argue with him and he would definitely lose that fight. That woman could argue her way out of a wet paper bag (one of the many reasons why he loved her). "You sure you can handle the weight?" He joked, knowing perfrctly well that the spy could handle much more than his large 250lb frame.

-

"I could bench press two of you and you know it." The spy laughed and, just to prove it, picked him up. Just picked him up. He was nearly a foot taller taller than her, but she scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way to the bathroom like he weighed no more than a doll, where she set him back down. It didn't even seem to be the least bit strenuous for her.

-

He didn't even fight it when she picked him up, though Frank did make a face so sour it could make a lemon pucker... the face was accompanied by a disgruntled noise that sounded almost inhuman in its disappointment. He kind of enjoyed the experience, but he would never let Nat know that in a million years.


	4. Chapter4

**All who enter, beware: here be smut, and it's a bit more graphic than in chapter 2.**

Once they finally got to the bathroom Frank got the water running to a decently hot temperature before turning to the love of his life. "You're wearing too many clothes," he flirted as a call back to the words that Nat had said that started this whole relationship.

-

"You're wearing too many clothes, too." Natasha chuckled quietly as she stripped off her clothes and slipped into the warm water, smirking at him. The cat followed them into the bathroom, but immediately hightailed it when the water started running.

-

He stripped off his clothes as well, a little bit moreslowly than necessary, revealing his impressive, rippling muscles as he did so. After that, Frank slipped into the bath behind Nat, his legs parallel to hers and his chest nearly touching her back. The marine stifled a chuckle as the terrified monster rushed from the room, it was almost karma.

-

Natasha just grinned as she saw the look on his face while she carried him, not taking his grumpiness seriously in the slightest. Watching him strip so teasingly, she actually bit her lower lip for a moment. Was she just hormonal, or was he somehow even hotter than usual? Not that it was possible for him to get any more attractive, since he was already kind of at the maximum sexiness capacity, but damn.

"Well, I guess that's karma." Natasha laughed quietly as the cat ran away, unknowingly echoing Frank's thoughts. She leaned back against him, a soft sigh of pleasure slipping past her lips, and reached back to take his hands and pull his arms around her body. "So, are we actually going to get any real bathing done, or do you want to do something… else?"

-

Frank let the steam fill the room as he enjoyed the soothing hot bathwater against his bare skin, but what he enjoyed more was the feeling of Natasha's slender toned frame and soft skin gently laying against his large deeply detailed and muscular body.

"I say we play it by ear," he whispered into her ear in a deep seductive tone as he lightly kissed the base of her jawline where it connected to her luscious neck. His strong arms wrapped around her, not tightly but securely, his forearms lightly brushing the underside of her perfect breasts.

-

"Play it by ear, huh? Alright then." She murmured quietly, a sly smirk on her face, then pulled away and turned around to face him, grabbing a bar of soap. Maintaining eye contact with him, she very slowly ran the soap over her body, paying special attention to lathering it over her breasts.

After she finished washing herself off, she moved closer to him again and worked the soap across his chest. The assassin leaned in far closer than necessary, her breath warm against him.

-

Frank was almost mesmerized as he watched her scrub herself down in front of him, doing an amazing job to tease the marine. Once she had finished he was already fully turned on and his body reflected that. As she moved closer to him he used his strong hands to firmly grip her waist as she moved.

The feeling of her breath on his skin and the feeling of the hot water and gentle scrubbing was making Frank feel like he was in heaven. Every movement turning him on more and more, and she knew exactly what she was doing to the marine.

-

A smile spread across her face as she watched his arousal growing, knowing she was driving him crazy, but she made sure not to give him any real satisfaction. She wasn't a woman who liked to wait, but she made an exception for when she was also making _others_ wait. Specifically, making _him _wait.

Natasha leaned in and just barely brushed her lips against his in a ghost of a kiss, then squirted some shampoo into her hand and started working it through his hair. Her fingers kneaded his scalp gently, and she stayed close to him, her face just inches from his as she straddled his lap.

-

Frank was at the mercy of the spy's will right then and he knew it. Normally he was in control of every situation because he _needed_ to he in control in his mind, but with her, he could let himself go. She was driving him absolutely nuts, but the second she started running her fingers through the marine's hair he was putty in her arms. She had found his greatest weakness.

When she sat in his lap he could feel his hard member pushed up against her body and knew that she could feel it poking her as well. Frank hoped that, at the very least, was driving her a little crazy. His eyes were closed as her lips brushed his and the feeling of her hands in his hair drew a small deep pleasured moan from his lips.

-

"Are we still playing it... by ear?" She murmured, then leaned in and very gently, teasingly nipped one of his earlobes, then trailed a line of kisses across his face to his mouth, planting a final peck on his lips before rinsing the shampoo out of his hair.

Leaning back again, Natasha started washing her own hair, taking her time and making sure he had a perfect view of her breasts the whole time. She finally rinsed by just dunking her head under the surface of the water, then slipped back into her place on his lap.

-

Frank kissed her back when she pecked his lips before letting her rinse the shampoo out of his hair, there was something so soft and romantic yet wildly hot about this bath they were sharing together. She was simply amazing.

When Natasha leaned back and showed him her breasts he couldn't help but tease back a little by leaning forward and lightly nipping at one of her perfect nipples before scooting back a bit to give the sexy spy room to rinse her own hair. The feeling of her back on his lap was also amazing, their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces and Frank loved it.

-

As Frank nipped at her, she let out a soft noise that was somehow halfway between a moan and a quiet yelp. Thanks to a certain thing she was steadily blaming more and more on him, her body was hypersensitive to the point where it was almost painful. Almost, but not quite. She ground her hips against him, capturing his mouth in a deep kiss yet again.

"I'm supposed to be the one teasing here. Quite stealing it from me." She chuckled softly as she wrapped one arm around him, her free hand sliding into his hair and just petting him.

-

The second she began to play with his hair again he melted against her once more, not being able to control himself from her exploitation of his weakness, though the grinding of her hips against his made sure his attention was solidly (pun intended) placed on her.

"But it's so cute when you moan," Frank teased her back, his voice unusually soft because she was petting him. He kissed her back fiercely and wrapped his arms around her waist when she kissed him, his hips grinding up against hers even more than they were before.

-

"Oh, it's cute?" One of her hands slid down his back to cup his rear, pulling him up against her, then slipped forward and stroked his inner thighs, still denying where she knew he wanted to be touched. She was still in full tease mode.

Making eye contact with him and smirking, she pulled her other hand from his hair, then slid her fingers between her own legs. Her breath caught in her throat for just a moment as she touched herself, biting her lower lip as she did.

-

God, she was teasing him harder than the man had ever been teased in his life, and it was making him more turned on by the second. His body clearly displayed how horny he was, but he was desperately trying to hide it in his face.

He tried to keep his eyes locked on hers, but felt his gaze slowly drift down her voluptuous body and following her hand down between her legs. Damn, it was driving the marine absolutely insane watching her play with herself like that. He could feel his cock throbbing with arousal as it was firmly pressed against her smooth toned stomach.

-

What was really driving her wild, even more than her own touch did, was watching his reactions to her. Seeing him getting so worked up just from watching her, from her teasing him, it was a power trip, honestly. She loved that she had that much influence over him.

After several long moments of teasing herself, her hand smoothly slipped from between her legs to his cock, her fingers running up and down his length. She was making herself go mad, too, at this point, but she wasn't going to rush anything until he did.

-

He watched her move and could tell she was just as turned on as he was (if not more), but she was waiting for him to make a move. Despite being at peak horniness levels, Frank resisted the temptation to fuck her right then and there, this had become a very hot, very sexy battle of wills and he refused to lose.

He felt her soft fingers touching his hard throbbing cock and stifled a groan of pleasure from his lips. Two could play at this game... Frank gently reached down with one of his hands and began lightly toying with Natasha's clit, manipulating it gently with his fingertips.

-

She didn't do nearly as good a job at keeping quiet as he did, thanks to hormones making her hypersensitive. A loud moan slipped past her lips, her eyes closing and her hips automatically bucking up against his. "_Oh_... that's not fair..."

That simple touch was all it took to unravel her resolve. Looking up at him, she leaned in and kissed him again. "You win." She mumbled with a tiny smile. "Bastard." And with that, she leaned back against the side of the tub, _away_ from him. With a smirk on her face, she crooked a finger at him, beckoning him closer.

-

He smiled at her as she leaned back against the side of the tub, but instead of immediately giving in to her seductive beckoning he decided to give her something extra special. His strong arms wrapped around the underside of each of her thighs lifting her lower body slightly out of the water, his head now between her legs.

"Since I won, that means I get a prize, right?" He said deeply before running his tongue up the length of her wet pussy, sucking lightly on her clit before sliding his tongue into the folds of her sex, enjoying the taste as he did this to the point of moaning into her.

-

"Oh yeah, you definitely..." Her flirtatious words were abruptly cut off by another, even louder moan when his tongue touched her, and she moved one hand instinctively into his hair as pleasure jolted through her body, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Frank... I'm not gonna last very long if you keep this up." She murmured in a low, rough voice as her back arched in pleasure. The hand not in his hair tightened into a fist, her nails digging into her palm as he sucked on her, and his moan only served to heighten the experience.

-

Her telling him that she was close only drove him to lick and suck her with more intense focus, Frank was trying to make her cum while he ate her out and that thought made him even more aroused if that was even humanly possible.

The taste of her was indescribable and amazing and the feeling of her hands in his hair drove him crazy. He could feel every quiver as his tongue entered her and loved every second of it.

-

Every flick of his tongue was like lightning flashing through her, electrifying every nerve in her body. Her grip on his hair slowly tightening, although she kept up just barely enough presence of mind to keep herself from actually hurting him or causing him discomfort.

Her free hand clamped down hard on the edge of the tub, hairline cracks spreading from the pressure of her grasp, the pleasure whiting out her mind too much for her to even register that her serum-enhanced strength was damaging it. Her breath came out in soft pants as he pushed her closer and closer to the edge.

-

He could feel her getting closer and closer with every movement he made and every moan he let out into her soft folds. It only made him intensify his licking and sucking even occasionally rising to bite and pull lightly on her clit.

After a few more moments of this, Frank did something she probably hadn't been expecting, slowly sliding two fingers deep into Natasha, moving in as deeply as his fingers would go before slowly pulling them out nearly all the way and pushing back into her again.

-

He already had her on the brink, so close that she could almost taste it, so when he slid his fingers inside her, it was just finally too much. She cried out his name as he pushed her over the edge, the wave of pleasure she'd been coasting on coming to a blinding crest.

Her body went limp, and her face slipped under the water for a brief instant before she quickly pulled herself back up, grinning at him. "I love you so much."

-

"Right back atcha," he said grinning with pride as he'd done his job right by the looks of things. He wrapped his arms around the spy, pulling her on top of him as he leaned back in the tub, careful to keep his injured leg from moving too much as he did so.

Once she was nearly lying fully on top of him on the tub, his head resting against the back wall, Frank pulled her into a deeply passionate kiss. He, of course, was still incredibly hard for her.

-

"Smug bastard." She grumbled at him, but despite her best efforts to look stern and grumpy, she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked at him, being careful to avoid his injury as she moved closer and laid down on top of him.

As her lips met his in a loving kiss, she ran one hand down to his cock and slowly ran her fingers over him, her other hand moving into his hair yet again. She teased him just a little bit before she lined her body up to his and, with a smooth motion, thrust him inside her.

-

"You wouldn't have me any other way," he spoke deeply before lightly groaning as her hand brushed his cock again, closing his eyes as her other hand found itself entangled in his hair once more, this feeling was pure ecstasy.

When he felt her warmth engulf him he let out a loud groan of approval as his cock was pushed deeply into her, even brushing up against her deepest parts. This was where he was meant to be and loved every second of it. Frank pulled Natasha into a deep, slow, romantic kiss as he began to push back into her slowly and lovingly.

-

"You might be right..." She breathed out, smiling at him. Honestly, she really wouldn't have him any other way, it was true. She loved him more than anything just the way he was, even if he did have bad taste in alcohol.

Her lips met his in a sweet, tender kiss as she bucked her hips up against him in a steady rhythm, doing most of the work so that he wouldn't have to stress his injured leg. She wanted him to enjoy every single part of this, and not be in any pain.

-

He loved her more than anything in the world and this moment they were sharing was picture perfect. Frank realized that this was the first time he'd had tender loving sex since he could remember... for the first time in their relationship they weren't just fucking their brains out, they were making love, and Frank wouldn't have it any other way.

His strong hands rested on her hips, lightly pulling and guiding her softly against him, matching her movements as she softly and carefully thrust herself on and off of him. His breath was heavy and hot as she moved against him.

-

They should really try the whole soft sex thing more often, she decided, because this was heaven. Another thing they should do more often was shower and bath sex, because Koshka hated the water and therefore wouldn't stare at them and ruin the mood.

She leaned over him as she moved against him, planting a gentle trail of kisses from his collarbone up his throat to his mouth, her lips meeting his sweetly and passionately. Her arms were wrapped around him, holding him close, and she didn't ever want to let him go.

-

Frank would definitely agree with her about how amazing soft sex was if she ever brought it up to him because he deeply felt the same way. He would also have to agree on the shower and bath sex, mostly because that hairball could go fuck itself in Frank's opinion.

The kisses she planted all over him made him lightly moan and groan with pleasure as he placed his hands on either side of Nat's face, looking into her deep emerald green eyes with a deep loving gaze and running his fingers through her hair. He never wanted this moment to end.

-

A tiny tremor ran through her body when he ran his fingers through her hair, and she very nearly purred as she completely melted into his touch. Honestly, she just loved when he had his hands on her, period, no matter where or how, and she never wanted him to stop touching her.

She met his loving gaze with one of her own, and gently pressed her lips to his in another tender kiss as the pleasure inside her started building up yet again.

-

The strong feelings of love and affection along with the intense sexual pleasure of it all was slowly pushing him towards the edge at increasing speed. He could feel her muscles slightly tightening around his cock, a sign that she was slowly building up to another orgasm too.

That kiss could've lasted forever in Franks mind, and if he died right then and there he would have died a happy man. He pulled her deeper and deeper into the kiss as she rode him slowly and lovingly, this would be a night to remember for the both of them.

-

Her fingers gently stroked the back of his neck in an idle, subconscious way, playing with his hair while she was distracted by absolutely melting into his arms and his kiss. She had never felt quite this kind of pleasure in her life, this soft, affectionate, sweet sort of pleasure, and she loved it. She loved him.

Her pace slowly started to pick up as she drew closer and closer to her climax, still gentle and loving but becoming steadily more forceful.

-

Everything was just... perfect. Frank felt more amazing here with her than anywhere else on the planet, she was the only person he truly felt at ease around. Each gently thrust deeply into her drove him closer and closer to the edge, luckily he didn't really have to worry about pulling out.

As soon as she picked up the pace, Frank felt himself go over that edge, he held her tightly and pushed into her deeply as he came deep inside of her, pushing himself to her very core. "I love you so goddamn much," he whispered lovingly into her ear.

-

As she felt him release deep inside her, it sent her over the edge as well. As she came, ecstasy burning through her body like a wildfire, she murmured his name yet again, the sound a low whisper in his ear.

"I love you too." She mumbled quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder as all of her energy seemed to be suddenly drained away. Quite abruptly, she felt completely exhausted. "You're the best, you know that?" She grinned at him, looking up with tired eyes.

-

"Are you looking into a mirror right now? Cause I think you're the best." He said softly as he held her tightly. He loved the woman in his arms so much that it hurt, and he never wanted to let go of her, but they probably needed to get out of the tub.

"How about we go cuddle in bed before we turn into a couple o' prunes in here huh?" He said in his trademark voice, still not making any moves to get up or move.

-

"That is so fucking cheesy, Frank. You've gone soft." She teased him, grinning as she spoke, obviously not the least bit actually irritated with him. He wasn't the only one who had gone soft though, really. Just a few months ago, she would never have imagined herself even thinking about getting married, let alone having a _baby._ She wouldn't have even thought she would ever cuddle someone after having slow, gentle, loving sex.

"Bed sounds nice." She agreed with a soft smile, and after pressing one last sweet kiss against his nose, she slipped out of the tub and toweled herself off. Moving over to the vanity of the bathroom, she pulled out a hairbrush and a hairdryer, and quickly made sure that her shoulder-length curls wouldn't become a tangled mess or drip water all over her pillow.

-

"Don't tell anybody, I've got a rep to keep up." He joked as she slipped out of the tub. '_Damn' _was all he could think when he got a flawless view of her incredible ass. She was too perfect. After he'd gotten his fill of that amazing view, Frank slowly pulled himself out of the tub using mainly arm strength as to not put any pressure on his leg. His muscles rippled as he winced pushing himself up.

Once out of the tub, Frank walked up behind her, placing his hands tenderly on her hips and pressing his entire body against hers, he lightly kissed her neck and looked into the mirror, seeing them together like that made him smile. "Who's that beautiful woman in the mirror? That guy's not too bad, either," he joked as he looked at her through the reflective glass.


	5. Chapter5

**Author's note: I really suggest waiting to read this until the sixth part has been posted, I really do. However, if you read it anyway... I am so sorry. The RP hasn't progressed far enough for me to post more than this. This chapter is angsty hurt/comfort with a bit of fluff and pain at the end. Also, warning: a bit of gore in the first Frank post here and slight gore at the last Nat post.**

-

Natasha should have been happy. She loved Frank more than life itself, and she loved the life growing inside her just as much, but at the same time… she was _miserable_. The craving for action that she had never let become more than a mild itch before she satisfied it was now an almost physical painful thing that gnawed at her chest from the inside, and it was driving her _insane_.

She couldn't stand just acting like a normal civilian and not doing anything, but there was nothing she could do, even if the people close to her would let her and if she was willing to risk harming herself or her baby, because hardly anyone would fight her. At this point, not even the sweatshirts she borrowed from Frank could hide the bump that she both loved and hated. She loved it because it was her baby, and she hated it because it had made her body a prison. Ordinarily, if she was stuck unable to fight, she would drown her frustrations in vodka, but now she couldn't even do that. It was like her own personal hell.

For the past few months, she had managed to hide how she felt, but as she was lying next to Frank as he slept, finding herself unable to do the same, she came across something in the news on her phone that finally tipped her over the edge. It was just an article about a battle the rest of the Avengers had been in recently, but when she saw her teammates working without her, it brought everything to the surface. She slipped out of bed as carefully and silently as she possibly could, doing everything possible to keep herself from waking him up, then crept out of the bedroom of the apartment she shared with her husband, sat down on the couch, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed.

-

_Everything was dark, the pain was the first thing he felt... that pain was familiar, the warm wet feeling of blood pooling around his broken body. He tried to will his body to move, his family needed them, he could hear their voices among the screaming of sirens in the background but they were nothing but a distant sound deafened by the roaring torrents of hellfire in the marine's mind. Slowly Frank opened his eyes and the sight in front of him shook him to his core... Lisa... his daughter... there was meat spilling out of the hole where her face used to be as she lay lifeless on the ground... a cold lifeless chill ran up his spine as his eyes then found his son... Frank jr... his guts fell from the cavity in his stomach like worms wriggling from a cold unforgiving earth... and his wife Maria, she was bleeding from so many bullet holes that had almost turned her into mush..._

_Frank began dragging himself over to her, ever inch he moved sent pain coursing through his body as he moved, he used every ounce of willpower and strength to reach his dying wife. She was still alive, but Frank knew better than to have hope, he looked at her wounds as they bubbled and spewed and tears began welling up in his eyes. The marine grabbed her hand and held it as he hoisted himself onto his knees with a heavy grunt. His shaking and bloody hand found itself gently supporting Maria's head as she looked at him with panic in her eyes, trying to speak to him but only wordless gurgles escaping as she coughed blood into the air._

_This wasn't like a movie, there were no words, just the pain and emptiness of the senseless violence and death around him. "You're... you're... gonna be okay... the kids... they're fine..." he was trying to reassure her through the pain and tears of his own failure to protect his family. Maria looked at him and seemed to hear his words as she recognized him, a soft look fell upon her face as she reached up and grazed his cheek with a weak and bloody hand. "I.. love... you..." she coughed the words out with her last breath as she laid dying... those words broke him down, the realization sinking in that everything he loved had just been taken from him. Frank collapsed on her lifeless corpse and cried the last tears that he would ever cry... he was no longer Frank Castle... Frank Castle was dead, killed in this park on that bright and sunny day when his family was ruthlessly murdered..._

Frank sprung forth in the bed with an almost painful shout of terror and sadness, sitting straight up as a single tear fell down his sweat drenched face. For a moment he had no idea where he was and then everything came rushing back as he fully woke up. The marine hadn't had _that _dream in months... not since the first night he and Natasha had spent together, and when he looked to the other side of the bed and saw she wasn't there he slipped out of bed and entered room to see her crying. Frank immediately sat on the couch next to her and hugged her, the man held her tightly and buried his head in her shoulder. That dream had brought back the painful memories and the fear of losing her and his unborn child was now forefront in his mind... The Punisher was _scared._

-

She heard his shout as he awoke and she immediately looked to see what was wrong, her heart in her throat, instantly terrified and fearing for the worst, only to see him already making a beeline for her. There was barely any time for her to react before his arms wrapped around her and he held her close, but she hoped he hadn't seen the tears on her face, hoped he hadn't realized that she had been crying.

One hand gently rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him as she realized what must have happened and instantly felt horrible. He must have had that old nightmare again, and it was because she hadn't been able to keep herself together, she hadn't been there for him. She had begun to view pretending to be happy and content as a cover, one that she absolutely couldn't afford to blow. That made it easier, more like the things she was used to, and from now on she wouldn't break character even for a moment. No more slip-ups. It would only hurt him to know how deeply unhappy she was.

"Frank, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gotten up, I just couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake you." Technically that was all true. She was sorry, she shouldn't have left, she hadn't been able to sleep, and she hadn't wanted to wake him, but there was so much more than that, so much that she didn't want to tell him.

-

As he felt the warm comforting touch of his loving and beautiful wife on his back he pulled himself together and cursed himself for being weak in that moment. She was going through so much worse than he was, but here he was panicking like a child when she was crying her eyes out. Frank slowly sat up and put a tender hand on her cheek, wiping away the tears on her face as his other hand gently rested on her belly.

"Nat, don't worry about me, I've handled that dream for the past ten years, I ran in here and hugged you because I was worried about you..." The only reason he had panicked so hard was that he hadn't had the dream in months, so it was just a little bit of shock. "What's wrong, sweetheart…?" He looked deeply into her eyes with nothing but concern and love. The fact that she had been crying was what bothered him the most because he had never really seen her cry, not like that... something had to have bothered her more than anything, and he cursed himself for not realizing that something was wrong sooner so he could've been there for her.

-

While Frank was cursing himself, Natasha was doing exactly the same thing. He had already been through so much, already feared losing her and their baby the way he had lost Maria and the rest of the family he had once had, but here she was crying her eyes out like a child while he was panicking. She closed her eyes as she tilted her head into his touch, partially because she didn't want him to meet her gaze as she lied to him.

"Exactly. You've handled that dream for ten years, you shouldn't have to go through it again. There's nothing to worry about." Crap. He _had _seen her crying. That was definitely _not _good. Why was she so _weak_? "Nothing is wrong, I'm fine." She reassured him with a smile, still not quite meeting his eyes as she reached up and cupped his face with one hand. It was half true. Nothing was _really _wrong... with anything but her, anyway... but she really was fine... physically, at least.

-

"I've been through worse than a couple nightmares." He said softly as he looked at her, "I only yelled because it'd been a while since I've had it and it startled me for a second, nothing to be upset about." He finished with full confidence in her and in himself. It was completely true, he'd handled that dream for so long that he'd forgotten what peaceful sleep was like, so it didn't trouble him as much as it did the first few months he'd started having them. "You know... you're the best liar in the world... except for when you lie to me." He said sweetly yet with a little bluntness as he held the woman he loved most in the world. "There's always something to worry about, you know that as well as I do, some giant alien army could come down right now and blow us to kingdom come." He was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood a little, but honestly it was something that was possible in this crazy universe they lived in.

"Nat... look at me. Bullshit." He looked her in the eyes with a soft smile as he called her out. "You don't have to tell me, but I know you've been going through a lot recently, so just know that I'm here for you no matter what... I want to help you shoulder any burdens you have, not because I think it's some duty that I have or because I think I have to... I _want_ to, I would be happy to lift any burden off of you that I can..." he pulled her close and gently kissed her forehead before pulling her in close, her face in his bare chest as he whispered. "I love you, Natalia Alianovna Romanova-Castle." He used her full birth name as a way to get her attention and help her break down the walls she had tried to put up.

-

She was supposed to be the Black Widow, a master secret agent, she was supposed to be _better_ than this... but she couldn't lie to him the way she could lie to almost anyone else. She was determined to do it anyway... right up until he said her name like that and told her he loved her, and it shattered her resolve. Before she even knew what she was doing, her arms were wrapped around him, her face was buried in his chest, and tears were dripping down her face yet again. Damned hormones.

"I know you do... and I love you too, more than anything, and our baby..." She trailed off as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. "I just _hate _this. I hate this so much. This is like my own personal hell. You're the only thing making this bearable at all..." It was all flooding out as she just broke down. "I just feel so _trapped_. I can't do anything, and I'm _stuck_ there's nothing I can do about it..." She shouldn't be telling him this, he had enough on his plate, but lying any more at this point may have just made it worse.

-

He just silently held her as she cried, running his fingers through her soft scarlet hair, just comforting her as she spoke. His chin rested upon the top of her head as he pulled her close to him and rocked gently back and forth. "I know sweetheart, just two more months. You can do it, I know you can. You're so goddamn strong, stronger than me or anybody else." He meant every word of what he was saying. He had no idea what she was going through with all of the hormonal issues and body problems she was having because of the pregnancy, but he would be here for her every step of the way no matter what.

After another long moment of silence Frank had a thought and chuckled quietly under his breath. "Ya know, after the baby is born, I'll babysit so you can make up for lost time. I'll even lend you my gun collection so you can go _hunting,_" he finished. To anybody else listening, they would think that the two of them talking casually about killing would be weird to say the least, but they understood each other in a way that no one else did.

-

"It just feels like forever, and I don't feel very strong right now." She laughed quietly, though without any genuine humor. "I feel a lot of things, but strong isn't one of them. Mostly exhausted." That was definitely true. No matter how much she slept, when she could manage to get comfortable enough to do so, she still woke up with just as little energy as she'd had before.

"It's just going to get worse before it gets better, too, and I'm... I'm already so sick of this. I can't take it anymore, but I've been feeling that way for months and I'm still here and I have to _keep _being here, I haven't got a choice... and I haven't even told you about how awful I feel _physically_." The last part was accompanied by a small, helpless smile. She had never really complained to him beyond a little comment every so often, but never seriously.

"No, we should have Clint babysit, then we can go together." Finally a genuine smile crossed her face as she imagined it, and she wished it could be what they were doing _now. _They couldn't do that, though, and everything would be different once the baby was born, so she just pulled herself into his lap and settled into his arms, leaning her head against his shoulder. The serum had its advantages, and one of those advantages was that while she _felt_ like shit, she didn't _look _like shit, and her body hadn't changed too terribly much besides that bump. She had taken to wearing Frank's t-shirts while in bed, just to make herself feel better although she knew that there wasn't any point in trying to hide it.

-

"Look at me, Nat." He waited until her gaze met his, "You're the Black Widow. Master assassin and professional badass. It's gonna take a lot more than a baby to put you down." He looked at her with all of the love he had in him, because he truly believed in her, more than he believed in anything else in the world.

"I'm here with you. Every step of the way." He kept holding her lovingly as he spoke. "No matter what happens, I _promise_ you that you _will_ get through this. I'm not going to say 'we,' because then you'll just tease me about it." He laughed slowly rubbing her baby bump with one hand and the other still running through her hair softly. Frank only wished he could do more for her than be there, more than anything in the world he wanted to lift her burdens and give her the amazing life she deserved.

"Definitely should be one of your friends because, well, I don't exactly have any." He was smiling even though it was totally true, that smile that crossed her face meant the world to Frank more than Nat would ever know. The man knew that things would change when the baby came, but he also knew that no matter what happens that they could handle it because, not to brag, they were the most badass couple to have ever existed. He held her as she pulled herself into his lap, his arms now both resting on her belly, Frank thought that she definitely looked adorable in his t-shirts but he'd never say that to her face, mostly because he liked his teeth to stay in his mouth.

-

"Just look at _me_. It already has put me down. I'm... I'm compromised. I'm not the Black Widow, I'm a fucking incubator. I was a master assassin and a badass. My body was my greatest weapon, and now it's my prison. You just... you don't understand." Her voice broke in the last sentence, coming out in a shaky whisper.

"Thank you." She murmured simply, finally letting herself take some amount of comfort in his words. Even if he had no way of really guaranteeing his promise of getting through this, the fact that he had said it made her feel better. "You have friends. Or at least Matt Murdock." As she settled into his lap and he held her close, she draped her arms over his with a soft sigh, and against his arms resting on her belly, a small but definite kick could be felt.

-

"You're not dead, and on our hardest days you gotta count that as a win." He said, that was one of the most true statements he'd ever said, even if he didn't take his own advice most of the time. "You're right, I don't understand, the closest thing I've ever come to that is being bedridden after a real bad firefight gone wrong for over three months and that almost drove me insane, not being able to do my job and wondering how many innocent people were suffering because I wasn't out there..." His voice trailed off near the end, it was one of the few moments Frank ever delved into his own fears and issues... Nat was the only person he trusted with that kind of stuff.

"Anytime." Frank held her softly, but when she mentioned Matt Murdock as being his friend he almost laughed, "We've put each other in the hospital more times than I can count." He told her, though the memories were almost nostalgic to him. Truly, Matt was the closest thing Frank had to a friend, which was kinda fucked up on both sides if he was being honest. His thought process was broken by the tiny kick he'd felt and that was when he almost broke, he felt a tear leave his eye as he broke into an ear to ear dumb stupid grin just silently thinking about the fact that the kid wasn't even born yet and Frank already loved him or her with all his heart.

-

She nodded slowly at his words as she realized that they were true. "You know... you're right. Even if sometimes I feel pretty dead." Maybe she should have been more open about how depressed she was feeling from the beginning, so he could have actually helped her the whole time. "That's exactly how I feel, plus just _trapped _like a caged animal." She was so glad that he actually understood her, or at least more than anyone else did, but she hadn't even touched upon all the things physically that made her miserable. Her back hurt, she was sore from all the baby's kicking, she was exhausted, and she just couldn't get comfortable. As far as she could remember, she had never before been so persistently uncomfortable without being injured, and _badly _injured.

"He was the best man at our wedding, sweetheart. If you weren't friends, he wouldn't have done that." She told him with a soft laugh, genuinely grinning at him. "Did you feel that? They take after us both, clearly, because they keep trying to kill me. Seriously, I'm at the point where I'm actually _sore _from all the kicking. Not even born yet and already causing people pain."

-

"Maybe you should take my advice more often." He jokingly scolded her, Frank was honestly just glad that she seemed to be slowly coming out of her sadness, Nat deserved to be happy. "At least you get a nice apartment and you're not in an actual cage right? Been there, done that. Not fun." He definitely understood what that felt like, being able to do nothing about anything and feeling trapped. Frank made a mental plan to take her out to do something fun, like a movie or a nice restaurant. Even though he disliked being in public, he would be doing it for her and that was enough for him to enjoy it.

"We'll call it a complicated friendship at best, there's some mutual respect between me and Red." The Daredevil and the Punisher had a long and very complicated history. It had gotten ugly at times and they have both put each other in mortal danger but also saved each others lives on multiple occasions. "That's my boy... or girl... I'm fine with either as long as they're even half as badass as you." He gently continued rubbing her stomach, even slightly massaging her sore abdominal muscles.

-

"Maybe I should, maybe I should." She chuckled quietly. "True, true. At least I don't have to sleep cuffed to the bedpost anymore, right?" There was a random little tidbit of the Black Widow program, which she didn't really talk about very often, so it was something he hadn't heard about from her yet. Sleeping while cuffed had become such a habit that she used to do it to herself even while she was free and had the key. It had taken her a while to get used to _not _having her left wrist bruised to hell and back.

"You should invite him over to... I don't know. Have pizza. Do whatever men do when they're alone. Try to become actual friends. You'll need it soon enough." That was only mostly joking. She sighed happily as he kept rubbing her belly, and she reached one hand up and behind her to drape her arm over his shoulder. "I think it's a boy. Certainly gets their size from you, not me, since I almost look like I'm having twins, so why not gender too?" She shrugged, but she had never really seriously considered the possibility that she might be having twins... although she probably should have done so.

-

"There's no maybe to it, you can't be the one whose right all of the time... just most of the time." A sly smile crossed his face as he spoke. "Cuffed to the bedpost?" He cocked his eyebrow at this new information, she said it like he was supposed to know about it, but he couldn't remember a time that she had said anything like that to him.

There was a very, very amused smile on his face as she talked about having Matt over for 'guy time.' "You think I'm the type of guy that hangs out with friends? You're the only person that I spend time with regularly that isn't dead, dying, or going to be soon." He joked, though it was true, when he wasn't with her he was doing his job, cleaning up the streets of New York, but there had been a lack of him coming home with bullet wounds ever since Nat got pregnant and that was because Frank actually cared about living for a change. As she said twins he looked at her with a smile before it faded and he looked her in the eyes, "Nat... what if it _is_ twins?" He asked, a small amount of concern crossing his face.

-

"Fair enough, I suppose. A broken clock is right twice a day." She joked, then raised an eyebrow at his sly smile. "Yeah, back in the Black Widow program, to keep us from running away in the middle of the night. We all became so conditioned to it that most of us couldn't sleep without it by the time we got through the training." All of this was said completely casually, like it wasn't a big deal, mainly because she wanted to just get it out in the open and move on to things like the look on his face when he asked about her being cuffed. "I could be convinced to be cuffed again, if you ever wanted, by the way."

Nat just rolled her eyes as he kept talking about Matt, and decided she would have to invite the lawyer/vigilante over herself sometime. "No, I don't think you are at all, but it would be good for you to at least try. Humans are social creatures, honey. Friendship is healthy, and healthy means you're in better shape to stop bad guys." The last bit was added in the hopes that it would help convince him. At his suggestion, she was silent for a long moment as it sunk in, then she just laughed nervously. "That... can't be possible... but maybe we should check just in case..."

-

"Sure, sure, whatever you say honey." He felt like he might get slapped for that, but it was worth seeing the look on her face before it happened in his mind. "Huh, damn." That was all Frank said, it wasn't because he didn't care, it just didn't bother him, he also didn't want to make a big deal out of it and make her relive those memories. Then as she dropped that line Frank wasn't completely sure that she was joking. "Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow slightly as he spoke, trying not to give away the fact that he was definitely down for that idea.

"I know what you're doing, you're trying to manipulate me into having friends... but you're also probably right." He said, still smiling as he thought of the look on Matt's face if Frank ever brought up the idea of 'hanging out.' Now that she had brought up the idea of twins and Frank had questioned it, he was a little worried but also tried to keep a smile on his face. "Yeah... you're probably right... but we should definitely check... ya know, just to be one hundred percent sure..."

-

He did indeed get slapped for that, but not hard at all, just a very light smack to his cheek. "That is _rude_. Don't you sarcastically call me honey, it ruins when you genuinely call me that. If you've _ever_ genuinely called me that." That was accompanied by a glare that had absolutely no real malevolence in the slightest. She smirked again as she heard him and instantly knew he would be very down to cuff her. "Mhm. You could have me any way you want me." The ginger murmured the words close to his ear.

"I'm almost always right, remember? You said so just a few minutes earlier." The assassin teased him with a grin that faded as the possibility of twins started to sink in. "I... I know someone I can call." With that, she picked up her phone and dialled the number of a healing mutant that she was friends with thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D. The mutant could also sense life forms, so if Nat was having twins, she would be able to tell. "Hi, Zoe? I kinda need you to come over to my place, as soon as it's convenient. It's not life or death but it's kind of urgent, it's, um, about the baby... thank you. I'll see you soon." She looked up at her husband and smiled at him, just as nervous as he was. "She'll be here in ten minutes."

-

As she smacked him Frank playfully caught her hand and held it against his face, he looked into her eyes with pure love and kissed her quickly. "You got it, _honey._" He smiled but there was no sarcasm behind the word this time, just the feeling of closeness and warmth. Then she whispered in his ear like that and was almost immediately turned on, just a little. "Don't tempt me like that." He whispered right back into her ear as he gently kissed her neck before pulling away.

"Key word there is _almost_." He smirked as he teased her, but quickly stopped as she picked up the phone and dialed her healer friend. What if it _was _twins? What would they do? They didn't even have a name picked out for _one_ baby, let alone two of them. He sat there quietly as she spoke on the phone, silently worrying about everything. Frank had almost forgotten what fear even was... "Alright, let's just sit back and relax, I'm sure we're just overreacting... _right_?"

-

As he held her hand to his face, Nat gently stroked his cheek with her thumb, wrapping her free arm around him as she kissed him back lovingly. When he called her honey again, she just nuzzled closer to his chest with a happy sigh. "I love you so much." She murmured quietly, her voice just as warm as his, but pouted at him when he kissed her neck and just pulled away. "Maybe I _want_ to tempt you... although I'm not all that tempting at the moment." A grin spread across her face as she spoke, though it faded slightly as she joked self-deprecatingly.

"Oh, you... hush." She laughed as Frank teased her, but her nerves made her amusement die quickly. "We're probably overreacting. Although... I kind of did a nosedive into google a while back and most muscular people aren't this big at _nine_ months, and I have the super soldier serum... it's probably just because I haven't been actually exercising, or something." In all her memory, she had never _had_ to work out to retain her muscles, thanks to the serum, but... maybe pregnancy hormones were messing with her...? Or maybe she was grasping at straws...

-

"I love you too." He looked into her beautiful emerald eyes as he spoke, those were the eyes that he had fallen in love with, and looking into them now made the chaos around their lives seem somehow okay. In that moment, Frank knew that no matter what happens with the kid or kids that everything was going to work out as long as he was with her. "Honey, look at me." He gave her a devious grin. "You're _always_ tempting, every second of every day." He said seductively as he went back in for a longer, sexier, and more passionate kiss just to prove how attracted to her he still was, as he pulled away from the second kiss he took her bottom lip between his teeth and nipped it as he withdrew, knowing that was one of her turn ons.

"Nat, you're the one person that I don't shut up around." He laughed as he spoke, trying to keep the mood light. His face dropped slightly as she spoke about the signs that she actually might have twins. But as he looked at her, his resolve hardened and he took her hand gently. "No matter what happens, even if it's octuplets... _but please don't let it be octuplets_... we _will_ get through this. Together." He looked into her eyes with all of the love in his heart and meant every word of what he was saying.

-

As she watched him get lost in her eyes, she couldn't help but do the same in his. Those chocolate brown eyes were still just as warm, loving, and comforting as always. As long as she was looking into those eyes, she knew everything was going to be okay, because no matter what, as long as she had him, she could get through anything.

Aaand then he flirted with her, and she wished she hadn't called Zoe, so they could be alone. "I'm pretty sure even you can admit that that's not completely true. I've had my moments. You, on the other hand, you're perfect 24/7." She kissed him back with just as much passion, one hand sliding into his hair and pulling gently as he nipped her lower lip. "_Fuck..._ you couldn't have waited until after Zoe left to do that? Why the hell are you so damned sexy? This should be illegal." The assassin sighed, pouting yet again. These days, it was easy to get her turned on, honestly, and he had done it yet again.

"I know I am, and I wouldn't have it any other way." She murmured happily, never actually wanting him to shut up, but her eyes widened in absolute horror when he said 'octuplets.' "Don't even _joke_ about that. God, if it's more than twins I'll have them sterilize me again when I deliver, I swear..." That was only half joking, but she wasn't joking at all as she leaned her against his shoulder and smiled at him. "I know. Everything will be okay, as long as I'm with you."

-

"I can't admit that, because it's not true at all, hon." He meant every word of it, then as she said he was perfect 24/7 he actually let out a laugh. "You and I both know that's bullshit, Nat, I'm about as far from perfect as a guy can get." He joked, but behind the joking was the truth... that he felt completely and utterly worthless in the grand scheme of everything.

He didn't say anything in response to that, Frank just smiled at her, a real, genuine smile. As long as Frank was with her he was truly happy and that was worth more to him than anything in the world, including being 'The Punisher.' "You're right, there's no way we can handle more than two." He chuckled. "...How about I get a vasectomy instead? Less dangerous." He joked but also was serious about the vasectomy. Frank then listened as she said the last sentence, "I love you, Nat." He murmured hugging her lovingly.

-

"No way. No, you don't get to compliment me, tell me I'm perfect, and expect me to accept it when you fight my compliments just as much. That's not how this works. You're amazing through and through. You're as close to perfect as a guy can get. Deal with it." She looked him dead in the eyes as she spoke, completely serious about it all. There was nothing and no one in the world that she loved more than him, and she just wished he could see himself the way she saw him.

"A vasectomy?" She paused as she considered that, frowning. "Maybe we could talk about that later, once we figure out what's going on _here_." The last word was accompanied by a point towards her stomach and a sigh. It made sense, but she didn't like the idea of him having any operation done. Besides, what if someday they changed their minds and wanted more kids? Better to wait and see what happened. "I love you too." She murmured as she hugged him back.

-

"Fine, I'll accept your compliments if you accept mine. Deal?" He meant the deal, though he would just start disagreeing mentally instead of out loud if he was being honest with himself. He put his hand out as if to shake for a business transaction or something like that, but there was a slight smirk on his face as he did so. He felt the same way about her as she did about him, there was no one else for Frank except for Nat, she was the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes no matter what.

"Good plan, I just don't want you to get any dangerous operations done, and a vasectomy is the safest and simplest option." When she pointed at her stomach, his eyes followed and his heart melted once again. There was nothing in the world that made him calm down like that unborn baby (or babies) in Nat's womb. He just held her like that, quietly loving her for a few more moments, right up until they heard a knock on the door. Even though Frank knew it was most likely Zoe, he smacked the table next to the couch and grabbed the gun out of the hidden drawer that popped out as he smacked it. Old habits die hard.

-

"Alright, alright. Deal. Mutual compliment-accepting." Nat laughed as she reached out and shook his hand. She didn't let go afterwards, just shifted her grip and placed his hand on the curve of her belly, putting her own hand on top of his. Somehow Frank had managed to make her feel almost completely better about everything, just by being his usual sweet self. Well, maybe not _usual_, but the sweet self he always was around her.

"Don't worry, I won't get anything dangerous done, I promise." The redhead chuckled and snuggled against him until the knock on the door activated his paranoia. Nat just sighed and got up, then headed for the door. "Just a second, Zoe!" She called out.

-

Frank chuckled as she shook his hand but the smile went quickly from amused to loving as his hand was placed tenderly on her curving stomach. In that moment, Frank came to the realization that it didn't matter whether there was one or two babies, all that mattered to the marine was that he and Natasha were together through all of it. He would do anything to protect her and his unborn child(ren).

"I'll hold you to that." He stated with a smile on his face as he held her close to him. He didn't understand why Nat had sighed so heavily when Frank gad drawn his gun, it seemed the most reasonable option to him. Why risk anything if you don't have to? As she opened the door Frank was on his feet and the gun pressed tightly against his chest in the firing position he had been trained on, ready to act at a moment's notice. In truth he hadn't been all that ready, Frank had been sure that it was Zoe on the other side of that door but he hadn't been quick enough.

-

As Natasha unbolted and swung open the door, she was met by a burst of shots from a machine gun, bullet holes turning her body to Swiss cheese. As her attacker immediately fled the scene, she tried to speak, but just let out a soft choking noise, falling to her knees as she drowned in the blood filling her lungs from multiple shots to her chest. She fell to her knees, then collapsed entirely, sprawled across the floor, looking at Frank and still trying to get words out. Mere seconds later, the Black Widow's eyes fluttered closed.


End file.
